Calais Campbell turned down other teams to re-sign with the Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens were able to re-sign arguably their most important internal free agent, Calais Campbell, on Saturday as the team retained a key defensive leader.

Campbell didn’t come without his fair share of suitors, however.

Josina Anderson reported on Saturday that Campbell turned down offers from the Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, and even the Ravens’ AFC North rivals, the Cleveland Browns.

The Ravens had plenty of competition, but according to Anderson, they “were the most aggressive in getting it done now.” Campbell is returning to Baltimore, and that’s likely where he will see out the remainder of his storied NFL career.

The Ravens were able to convince Calais Campbell to return

Once it became clear that Campbell was set on returning to the NFL for at least one more season, the Ravens knew what they had to do. They needed to convince the six-time Pro Bowler that Baltimore was the place to be if he wanted to compete.

Campbell, to his credit, insisted that he needed to take some time to weigh all of his options. After all, this was very likely the last contract decision he’d make in his NFL career. He was willing to wait to make the right choice.

Ultimately, the Ravens were able to convince him to return home to the team he’s spent the last two years of his career with. As Anderson points out, the team was aggressive in their pursuit of Campbell.

The Ravens made it very clear over the last few weeks that they had every intention of re-signing Campbell with head coach John Harbaugh even insisting that they had their “fingers crossed” that he would return.

Harbaugh and the Ravens were very open and vocal about their desire to re-sign Campbell so it should come as no surprise that they were as aggressive as they were.

The Ravens were able to secure one of the better defensive players and a key leader on and off the field. And they did so despite serious competition.

After missing out on the likes of Bobby Wagner, Za’Darius Smith, and others, it’s nice to win one of these bidding wars for a change.